STANDALONE NOVEL FROM CHELLE BLISSEVERYTHING CHANGED IN AN INSTANT.I thought I knew what was important, but one phone call sent my life into a tailspin. Alone and afraid, I clung to the one man I shouldn’t. I was warned about him and told to stay away. “He’s dangerous,” they said. But the man who could hurt me the most, gave me the greatest comfort. "He\'s not who they think," I told myself. But just like an illusion, things are never what they seem.

Short story published in the March 28, 2016 Edition of The New Yorker. Also available to read online. ‘You will have heard of my friend the once celebrated novelist Jocelyn Tarbet, but I suspect his memory is beginning to fade…You’d never heard of me, the once obscure novelist Parker Sparrow, until my name was publicly connected with his. To a knowing few, our names remain rigidly attached, like the two ends of a seesaw. His rise coincided with, though did not cause, my decline… I don’t deny there was wrongdoing. I stole a life, and I don’t intend to give it back. You may treat these few pages as a confession.’ A jewel of a book: a brand new short story from the author of Atonement. My Purple Scented Novel follows the perfect crime of literary betrayal, scrupulously wrought yet unscrupulously executed, published to celebrate Ian McEwan’s 70th birthday.

In the wild, a stranger sneaked into Grace's tent and ravished her because of the drug, then left her a note before leaving. She got pregnant after that night then went to find that man but failed.When she decided to have an abortion, she got backed out.Five years later, to raise her little boy, she became a paparazzi and accidentally creepshot photos of the hottest movie queen seducing the most powerful CEO in this city. She could get a promotion and a raise in salary from this photo, but unfortunately, she got caught by the domineering CEO.She thought she was facing an imminent catastrophe, but what this eligible bachelor just said to her? "How about I arrange a better job for you, and... you stay with me tonight?"Why did it sound like he was flirting with her?This is Book 1 in this series.

Four family members. One incident. Several shocking twists... When Sophie and Stuart take their children, Josh and Tilly, for a family day out, they have no idea that things will never be the same again. But after each of them witnesses a crime in the woods, their lives are turned upside down. With the police seeking answers while the criminals hope to silence the witnesses before they can say any more, the four family members have different ways of handling things. They also have secrets, both relating to the crime they witnessed and from their lives before the incident occurred. As things spiral out of control, the family think they have two options; either stick together or lose everything. But it might already be too late for them to even have that choice anymore...

Armor is, I believe, my favorite science fiction novel ever. It follows to basic plotlines -- one is the story of a desperate soldier fighting an impossible war, the other from the point of view of an ex-pirate escaped from prison who joined up with the wrong crew. The two plots do intertwine, but the plots aren't the appeal of this novel.

The latest in writer and visual artist Renee Gladman’s ever-expanding body of imaginative investigation is a sui generis novel of queerness and art-making, philosophy and sex.The narrator of My Lesbian Novel is Renee Gladman, an artist and writer who has produced the same acclaimed body of experimental art and prose as real-life Renee Gladman, and who is now being interviewed by an unnamed interlocutor about a project in process, a seeming departure from her other works, a lesbian romance.  Between reflections on art making and on the genre of lesbian romance—“though aspects of the formula drive me crazy . . . people who write these stories understand how beautiful women are”—a romance novel of her own takes shape on the page, written alongside the interview, which sometimes skips whole years between questions, so that time and aging become part of the process.  The result is a beautifully...

Amazon.com ReviewAimee Bender's funny, delicately shaded first novel is a constant delight, even at its most warped. An Invisible Sign of My Own tells the story of Mona Gray, a math wiz and a high school track star, whose ordinary childhood comes to pieces when her father is stricken with a mysterious illness. There doesn't seem to be a name for it, but he looks sort of gray and seems frail and unhappy. Whether there's anything really wrong with Mona's dad is unclear, but her fear that he will die, as well as his withdrawal from family life--no more vacations, no running practice with his daughter, no unplanned outings--triggers a corresponding withdrawal in her. Whenever she does well at anything, or starts to enjoy herself, she quits: piano class, dancing lessons, her first boyfriend, running. I quit dessert to see if I could do it; of course I could; I quit breathing one evening until my lungs overruled; I quit touching my skin, sleeping with both hands under the pillow. When no one was home, I tied ropes around the piano, so that it would take me thirty minutes with scissors to get back to that minuet. Then I hid all the scissors. Instead of working out her problems, Mona develops a habit of knocking on wood, and sometimes knocks for an hour before getting to sleep. Eating soap is her other dark indulgence: a surefire anti-aphrodisiac that she calls on whenever she feels sexually attracted to a man.At 20, Mona is recruited to teach math at the local elementary school. To her surprise, she is a brilliant teacher, making addition and subtraction tangible to second graders with a game called Numbers and Materials, in which the students bring in natural or man-made objects that take the form of numbers. When 7-year-old Lisa Venus brings in a zero made of IV tubing from her dying mother's hospital room, Mona recognizes a kindred spirit. But she will have to be healthy herself to help Lisa resist her urge to take on her mother's illness out of grief and loyalty. The complicated connection between children and adults is the underlying theme of this big-hearted novel. However quirky and alarming Bender's methods may seem, An Invisible Sign of My Own is no darker than a fairy tale, and the witch--even if it's the witch within--is reliably vanquished in the end. --Regina MarlerFrom Publishers WeeklyClever, original and written with brio and eloquence, Bender's first novel (after the praised short story collection The Girl with the Flammable Skirt) may not appeal to every taste, but those who respond to its depressed, quirky heroine in her anguished search for safety from life's disasters will feel instant love. At 20, Mona Gray has deliberately made herself as colorless as her name. A decade ago, when her adored father fell victim to a mysterious illness that has left him drained of energy, hope and desire for human contact, Mona too retreated from life and deliberately stopped aspiring for success or happiness. Having turned her back on achievement as a track star and on sharing love, Mona still nourishes one source of happiness: the world of mathematics. Numbers, being clear and immutable, are Mona's salvation, as well as her job. She teaches arithmetic to second graders, having invented a zany curriculum in which her students find numbers everywhere in the environment. Kids love Mona, although she constantly and compulsively knocks on wood to keep disaster at bay. Everyone else seems unaware of her emotional isolationAbut everyone else in this novel is also pretty strange. Mr. Jones, Mona's former high school math teacher, wears numbers around his neck to indicate his daily mood. Mona wears "an invisible sign of my own" that denotes her fear and vulnerability. Then awkward, unsociable science teacher Michael Smith, who shares Mona's morbid imagination, breaks through her emotional reserve. Meanwhile, she has developed a particular fondness for seven-year-old Lisa Venus, who is actually experiencing the real terror of loss and abandonment that Mona fears: her mother is dying of cancer. In a satisfying denouement in which Bender brings the narrative full circle with astonishing dexterity, Mona discovers how to connect and live fully, and helps Lisa to navigate her own way through a frightening world. Readers may find the narrative too schematic and the characters exceptionally odd. On the other hand, Bender writes like an angel, with images that strike resonant chords, and her sly humor pervades every page. And those who are initially put off by the bizarre fairy tale that opens the narrative will be touched almost to tears when it comes full circle. Author tour. (July) FYI: Bender is the sister of Karen Bender, author of Like Normal People (Forecasts, Feb. 21). Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Tom Stone is madly in love with his wife Ann. Pushing forty and expecting their first child, they buy a semi-derelict house in Hackney. Despite their spiralling money troubles, they believe this is their settled future. But Ann becomes convinced she's being shadowed by a homeless man whose presence seems like a terrible omen. As their child grows, Ann's behaviour becomes increasingly erratic, feverish and disturbed. On the verge of losing everything, Tom makes a decision that he hopes will save their lives.Novel About My Wife is a taut, sensuous and chilling portrait of a marriage beset by paranoia and obsession.

A swoony, small town firefighter romance from USA Today Bestselling Author J.H. Croix! ✔️ A nosy, matchmaking grandmother. ✔️ Meet cute in birthday suit. ???? ✔️ A broody, smokin' H-O-T hero. ✔️ A brilliant, tomboy heroine. ✔️ A three-legged sweet rescue dog. ✔️ Plenty of small town shenanigans. Alice I didn't mean for the whole wedding party to see me skinny dipping. That's how I met Jonah, my new, way too hot for my sanity neighbor. Jonah I came to Alaska to escape. I prefer to leave tragedy behind and don't need anyone reminding me I'm a hero. I'm not. I'm damaged goods and not in the market for romance. Alice is beyond distracting, and I can't avoid her. My grandmother thinks we're fated for each other. While I'm busy trying to ignore my grandmother's...

Amelia Ann Blanford Edwards, also known as Amelia B. Edwards, was an English novelist, journalist, traveller and EgyptologistAmelia Ann Blanford Edwards, also known as Amelia B. Edwards, was an English novelist, journalist, traveller and Egyptologist

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

SEAL My Love: A SEAL Brotherhood Novel

Sophie is a 21-year-old single mother and this beautifully written novel explores her relationships in all their surprising and sensuous complexities. A companion to the award-winning Secret Scribbled Notebooks.'I am a reading girl, with a pale face, and glasses. People who become enthralled by the world of books, as I am, are often thought to have dull lives, but I feel that my own life is made of the stuff of myth. Or anyway, I intend to make it so. So this is my story. It will be about birth & death and love & sex. I will make it something after my own heart, tender and dark, a little candlelight novel, started this late summer night...'Joanne Horniman's characters live and breathe and find their way into your imagination to make you look at life afresh.'Quietly breathtaking...I love it.' Phoebe Lines, 18'A collection of delicious stolen moments.' Kate O'Donnell, 24

Kazunari Hira is not what you'd call popular. In fact, he's basically on the lowest rung of the social ladder, due largely to his stutter that tends to flare up when he's anxious. And then there's him: Sou Kiyoi, leader of the pack and the most beautiful man Hira has ever seen. When Hira is made the popular group's gofer, he realizes that he doesn't mind his lowly position so much when the orders are coming from Kiyoi's lips. In fact, Hira treasures every order Kiyoi gives him and every bit of change he's handed to run errands. Could he actually be... in love?"A story about dealing with one's differences and what it means to grow in a tough and at times cruel world, the manga "My Beautiful Man" is one that will capture the hearts of those that have ever felt misunderstood or as an outsider. A story about what it could mean to also find a glimmer of hope that could change one's life yet be as confusing as it is a lesson in understanding oneself. [...] The [light...

“With My Ex-Life, a heartwarming comedy of manners about second chances and starting afresh, he has pretty much outdone himself...McCauley fires off witticisms like a tennis ace practicing serves...In the vein of inveterate beguilers like Laurie Colwin, Elinor Lipman, and Maria Semple, McCauley is warm but snappy, light but smart—and just plain enjoyable.” —NPR.orgDavid Hedges’s life is coming apart at the seams. His job helping San Francisco rich kids get into the colleges of their (parents’) choice is exasperating; his younger boyfriend has left him; and the beloved carriage house he rents is being sold. His solace is a Thai takeout joint that delivers 24/7.The last person he expects to hear from is Julie Fiske. It’s been decades since they’ve spoken, and he’s relieved to hear she’s recovered from her brief, misguided first marriage. To him.Julie definitely doesn’t have a problem with marijuana (she’s given it up completely, so it doesn’t matter if she gets stoned almost daily) and the Airbnb she’s running out of her seaside house north of Boston is neither shabby nor illegal. And she has two whole months to come up with the money to buy said house from her second husband before their divorce is finalized. She’d just like David’s help organizing college plans for her 17-year-old daughter.That would be Mandy. To quote Barry Manilow, Oh Mandy. While she knows she’s smarter than most of the kids in her school, she can’t figure out why she’s making so many incredibly dumb and increasingly dangerous choices?When David flies east, they find themselves living under the same roof (one David needs to repair). David and Julie pick up exactly where they left off thirty years ago—they’re still best friends who can finish each other’s sentences. But there’s one broken bit between them that no amount of home renovations will fix.In prose filled with hilarious and heartbreakingly accurate one-liners, Stephen McCauley has written a novel that examines how we define home, family, and love. Be prepared to laugh, shed a few tears, and have thoughts of your own ex-life triggered. (Throw pillows optional.)

Ann Pearlman's The Christmas Cookie Club enthralled readers everywhere with a heartwarming and touching story about the power of female friendship. Now, in A Gift for My Sister, she once again explores the depth of the human heart, and this time it’s through the eyes of two sisters. Tara and Sky share a mother, but aside from that they seem to differ in almost every way. When a series of tragedies strikes, they must somehow come together in the face of heartbreak, dashed hopes, and demons of the past. The journey they embark on forces each woman to take a walk in the other’s shoes and examine what sisterhood really means to them. It’s a long road to understanding, and everyone who knows them hopes these two sisters can find a way back to each other.

This is a story of a girl who had it all. Money, opportunity, and bright future with her upcoming college graduation. Until a trip overseas shattered it all. This is the story of a man who has nothing to lose, and puts his life on the line everyday to feel something in his numb soul. A soul that has been destroyed because of his past. Until he meets her.

New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult is widely acclaimed for her keen insights into the hearts and minds of real people. Now she tells the emotionally riveting story of a family torn apart by conflicting needs and a passionate love that triumphs over human weakness. Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. The product of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate -- a life and a role that she has never challenged...until now. Like most teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister -- and so Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable, a decision that will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal consequences for the sister she loves. My Sister's Keeper examines what it means to be a good parent, a good sister, a good person. Is it morally correct to do whatever it takes to save a child's life, even if that means infringing upon the rights of another? Is it worth trying to discover who you really are, if that quest makes you like yourself less? Should you follow your own heart, or let others lead you? Once again, in My Sister's Keeper, Jodi Picoult tackles a controversial real-life subject with grace, wisdom, and sensitivity.